Monday, November 30, 2009

"From the besieged Gaza Strip, we call upon all peace lovers around the globe to come here to participate in our Gaza Freedom March that is aimed at breaking a repressive Israeli blockade on Gaza's 1.5 million residents." So said Mustafa al-Kayali, coordinator of the steering committee for the Gaza Freedom March.

The march is scheduled to depart by 31 December from Izbet Abed Rabbo, an area devastated during last winter's Israeli assault, and head towards Erez, the crossing point to Israel at the northern end of the Gaza Strip.

"For the past several months, since the 22-day long Israeli war on Gaza came to an end on 18 January 2009, we in the steering committee that represents civil society organizations here in Gaza, have been planning to organize such a march in an attempt to end the crippling three-year-long Israeli blockade on the coastal enclave," al-Kayali explained.

What makes this planned demonstration different is the fact it will include about a thousand participants from all over the world including about 800 people from the United States itself. Many of the American participants include members of the American pro-peace group, Code Pink.

The march is timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the devastating Israeli attack that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza, the vast majority civilians. By heading towards Erez, organizers wish to highlight Israel's responsibility for the siege, a point emphasized in the UN-commissioned Goldstone report that found Israel responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. "Erez is the main gate from Gaza to the Israeli apartheid state," al-Kayali said, "so marching there is also a signal of rejection by internationals of the actions of the Israeli apartheid regime."

Several civil society organizations are supporting the Gaza Freedom March, including the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the International Campaign for Breaking the Israeli Siege, the Palestinian Workers Syndicate, the Sharek Youth Forum and the Palestinian Network of Nongovernmental Organizations (PNGO).

Dima al-Meshal

Dima al-Meshal of the Sharek Youth Forum in Gaza has been helping to publicize the Gaza Freedom March among youth groups in Gaza.

A student of medicine, al-Meshal said that the march is a reflection of the Palestinian people's determination to get rid of the Israeli repression through peaceful means.

"We will highlight Gaza's condition as a whole," al-Meshal said. "We have a message that we are a people who are in need to live in dignity. This is the first time ever that the Palestinians come together in [such] large numbers along with internationals to say no to repression."

Young people in Gaza are first and foremost motivated for "better lives and better futures. We don't care about food or anything else. I want to live normally, as many others around the world."

In recent months, people in Gaza believe the international community began to direct its attention elsewhere, neglecting the siege of Gaza. Few international media outlets pay attention to the situation here.

Al-Kayali hopes the march will begin to change that: "We call on the internationals who come here not to consider their visits as tourism. Rather, they should convey a real message from the ground to their peoples, organizations or governments."

Since January 2009, several international campaigns have attempted to come to Gaza in solidarity. About four boats, sailed by the Free Gaza Movement, managed to sail to Gaza, yet last summer the Israeli occupation authorities intercepted a further attempt, blocking the boat's arrival into the besieged coastal enclave.

According to organizers of the Gaza Freedom March, international participants will enter through the Rafah crossing terminal on the Gaza-Egypt border line in the southern Gaza Strip.

"Most of local youth with whom I talked over the Gaza Freedom March expressed excitement and enthusiasm for participation," al-Kayali said. "They are keen to send a message to the outside world that the Palestinian people are there and that humans should be united for the sake of freedom."

All images by Rami Almeghari.

Rami Almeghari is a journalist and university lecturer based in the Gaza Strip.

"We've seen the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. We're seeing it sadly in our own country," one believer said. "So it's the Body of Christ that's going to pray for Israel, that's going to pray for the peace."

"We know that Yeshua's going to deliver them," another added. "We know that His plan is not going to be late. They're on His time clock but we as believers have the privilege and the honor to pray for them and join Him as His plan moves forward."

"Prayer makes the biggest difference besides hearing all the politics and stuff. Prayer is what really is going to be answered," one woman said.

"I believe that prayer is the key and that is the greatest thing. The Lord Jesus Himself has asked us to do," a prayer warrior continued. "As you know the life of Christ was fully saturated with prayer and so the apostle's life. Can we do anything less?"

After being in China for a year I have to say I sorely missed Jews, especially their sarcasm and irony and a specific, sardonic type of humor seemingly nonexistent in China. And then I met Guri at Lost Angel Café in Southern China’s Yunnan Province. “You have real Yunnan coffee, right?” he asked the barista. “Not Nescafe?” And then he turned to me and asked where I’m from. I told him New York and he said, “Crown Heights?” What? “The organization I’m involved in is based in Crown Heights,” he said. “Chabad.” And he pulled a Star of David amulet out from his shirt. I was vaguely aware of Chabad, and was more than a bit taken aback to find a one of their members in this ancient small city under Cangshan Mountain.

Vice: Do you work for Chabad?

Guri Katz: No, no. I just attend their meetings, and I did once make applesauce for Hanukkah, you know, at least I think it was applesauce. Yes, it was, three years ago, Hanukkah on the Great Wall, lighting the menorah. We got a lot of press for that, two different television networks covered it, and people were telling me from around the globe that they’d seen me celebrating Hanukkah on the Great Wall. The next year they set us up in a princely palace near Houhai, and the next year at Chinese Ethnic Culture Park, with police stationed all around us. You know that joke, right? What are the two biggest lies of all time? The check’s in the mail and some of my best friends are Jews. Jews tell the best Jewish jokes, of course. I’ve got a lot of good ones from the Rabbi in Beijing, but he seems to have stopped telling any, which is too bad really.

What’s the situation with being Jewish in China?

The problem is Judaism isn’t one of the officially recognized religions in China [those would be Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism], so you can’t open a synagogue. There were three in Shanghai, dating from the early 20th century, but two were demolished, one in the 80s, and one as recently as the early 90s, if you can believe that, and the third we can’t even go into and hold services because it’s been turned into a museum that’s entirely under Chinese control. But generally we have a lot to be thankful for here, in that Jews have never been really oppressed in China and it’s been a haven.

Back to the Jews, can you tell me more about Chabad in China?

Chabad came to China seven yeas ago, and now there are seven Chabad houses, in Beijing, Shanghai, Pudong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Kowloon, and a new one is starting in some big industrial city I’d never heard of before, one of those huge unknown cities in China, Yiwu. They are based in Crown Heights, and are also called Lubavitchers.

Are they ultra-orthodox?

No, not all, they are very tolerant and accept all Jews who want to come together, at any level of observance. They are a uniting force, they accept even people who don’t go to Shul or Synagogue. Of course they’re Eastern European Jews, Ashkenazis, but they are very inclusive.

The Israeli Intel front company Verint is doing security in Calgary (YYC) and Vancouver (YVR) International airports.

The company is famous for putting back-doors in its software, which phones home to Israel. The company is suspected with facilitating the 9/11 attacks, and the 7/7 attacks. Verint's video system on London's subway was inoperable during the London 7/7 terror incident.

It is also interesting to note that CANUTEC, an organization set up by the Canadian government to cope with potential disasters, can be reached by dialing 666. CANUTEC will manage the potential roadblocks in case of a pandemic or terror incident.

The date of a special election in Florida to fill the seat of a prominent Jewish congressman may be changed because it falls on the last day of Passover.
Gov. Charlie Crist wants to revisit the date of the scheduled April 6 election to replace Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) to see if it can be switched, The Associated Press reported.

Crist, a Republican, was reacting to a letter from the Florida-based Shalom International, a pro-Israel group whose president, Bob Kunst, called the election schedule an “attack upon the religious Jewish community.”

Wexler is resigning in January to become president of the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation. His 19th Congressional District includes the heavily Jewish areas of Palm Beach and Broward counties.

The Israeli armed forces have announced plans to double their existing force of robot bulldozers, after unmanned "Black Thunder" droid diggers apparently covered themselves with glory during the recent Gaza incursion.

An IDF killdozer in a quiet moment.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the Black Thunder unmanned version of the existing D9 combat dozer was developed in secret by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Engineering Corps. It has apparently only recently been declassified.

"The unmanned D9 performed remarkably during Operation Cast Lead, clearing roads of mines and explosive devices," an unnamed IDF officer told the paper. "The unmanned version is important since if there is a concern that an area is loaded with mines it can save lives."

The regular D9, from Caterpillar, is an imposing brute. It weighs nearly 50 tonnes - reportedly more than 60 with IDF armour - boasts better than 450 horsepower, and is generally equipped with a normal bulldozer blade at the front and a "ripper" delving tool at the back. The Black Thunder unmanned version is fitted with cameras and remote actuators, and can operated unmanned or with a driver as may suit.

The mighty machine has already attracted negative publicity in IDF service: its use for house demolitions in Gaza and elsewhere has drawn criticism from human-rights groups. But the IDF think it's great, and they like the Black Thunder so much that the Jerusalem Post says Major-general Avi Mizrachi (CO of the Ground Forces Command) is considering setting up an extra battalion of robodozer-equipped troops.

Chillingly, a Caterpillar D9 starred in the 1974 TV movie Killdozer, in which a bulldozer possessed by a demonic intelligence attempts to wipe out an isolated construction crew. Those who have read the short story which was adapted for the film will know that the machine should strictly have been a D7, but no matter.

The court said Polanski would be subjected to "constant electronic surveillance" at his chalet and an electronic tag would be activated if he attempted to leave the premises.

It also said that Polanski - who holds dual French and Polish citizenship - would stay in the prison pending a possible appeal against the ruling.
The Swiss justice ministry has 10 days to appeal against the court's decision.

But Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said she saw no reason to appeal against the decision.

It is highly unusual for extradition subjects to be granted bail in Switzerland, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes, adding that Polanski's first application was refused.

But this time the court ruled bail conditions should be enough to prevent him fleeing back to France, our correspondent says.

The ruling is not thought to affect the Swiss government's ongoing assessment of whether it should extradite Polanski to the US.

Polanski has not set foot in the US since fleeing the country in 1978, and has settled in France.

Speaking after detention in September, US prosecutors disputed claims that his arrest came out of the blue, saying he had been on an Interpol "wanted list" for years.

Niva Ben-Harush, the woman who reported the novice's suspicious behaviour to police, told Ynet News that 15 minutes after she made the call, Tel Aviv's port was closed and people evacuated.

She said police initially asked her to come with them and identify the suspect.

"But after a few minutes, they told me it was just a drill," she said.

Up to three agency employees were believed to have been suspended following the incident, Ynet reported.
It quoted the prime minister's office as saying it did "not respond to information about such activities undertaken by security agencies or attributed to them".

The want-to-be James Bond was spotted on Monday planting a dummy bomb under a vehicle in the bustling commercial capital by a woman passer-by who swiftly alerted a passing policeman, the media reports said.
It was only after questioning at the the local police station that the rumbled trainee assassin managed to convince his captors that he was indeed a member of the famous spy agency.

The Mossad never warns Israel's uniformed security services in advance of its exercises in a bid to give the training an element of reality.

The recruit's arrest was the latest in a series of blunders to tarnish the agency's reputation over the past two decades.

In Cyprus, four suspected agents were detained by police during a bungled attempt to bug the Iranian embassy in 1991, and two more were jailed in 1998 for spying on a naval base in the south of the Mediterranean island.

The same year an Israeli was given a suspended prison sentence in Switzerland for trying to tap the phones of Lebanese nationals.

In 1997 in the biggest blunder of all, Mossad agents attempted to assassinate Hamas official Khaled Meshaal in an abortive operation that nearly led to the rupture of relations with peace partner Jordan and forced it to free the Islamist movement's then leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in a conciliatory move.

South Africa deported an Israeli airline official last week following allegations that Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet, had infiltrated Johannesburg international airport in an effort to gather information on South African citizens, particularly black and Muslim travellers.

The move by the South African government followed an investigation by local TV showing an undercover reporter being illegally interrogated by an official with El Al, Israel’s national carrier, in a public area of Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport.

The programme also featured testimony from Jonathan Garb, a former El Al guard, who claimed that the airline company had been a front for the Shin Bet in South Africa for many years.

Of the footage of the undercover reporter’s questioning, he commented: “Here is a secret service operating above the law in South Africa. We pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. We do exactly what we want. The local authorities do not know what we are doing.”

The Israeli foreign ministry is reported to have sent a team to South Africa to try to defuse the diplomatic crisis after the government in Johannesburg threatened to deport all of El Al’s security staff.

Mr Garb’s accusations have been supported by an investigation by the regulator for South Africa’s private security industries.

They have also been confirmed by human rights groups in Israel, which report that Israeli security staff are carrying out racial profiling at many airports around the world, apparently out of sight of local authorities.

Concern in South Africa about the activities of El Al staff has been growing since August, when South Africa’s leading investigative news show, Carte Blanche, went undercover to test Mr Garb’s allegations.

A hidden camera captured an El Al official in the departure hall claiming to be from “airport security” and demanding that the undercover reporter hand over his passport or ID as part of “airport regulations”. When the reporter protested that he was not flying but waiting for a friend, El Al’s security manager, identified as Golan Rice, arrived to interrogate him further. Mr Rice then warned him that he was in a restricted area and must leave.

Mr Garb commented on the show: “What we are trained is to look for the immediate threat – the Muslim guy. You can think he is a suicide bomber, he is collecting information. The crazy thing is that we are profiling people racially, ethnically and even on religious grounds … This is what we do.”

Mr Garb and two other fired workers have told the South African media that Shin Bet agents routinely detain Muslim and black passengers, a claim that has ignited controversy in a society still suffering with the legacy of decades of apartheid rule.

Suspect individuals, the former workers say, are held in an annex room, where they are interrogated, often on matters unrelated to airport security, and can be subjected to strip searches while their luggage is taken apart. Clandestine searches of their belongings and laptops are also carried out to identify useful documents and information.

All of this is done in violation of South African law, which authorises only the police, armed forces or personnel appointed by the transport minister to carry out searches. Full Story

Federal prosecutors dismissed all immigration charges against former Postville meat plant manager Sholom Rubashkin today, one week after a South Dakota jury convicted him of 86 business-fraud charges.

The decision spares Rubashkin a second federal trial on 72 immigration-related charges. But the former vice president at Agriprocessors, Inc. still could spend the rest of his life in prison. The maximum sentence for his convictions adds to 1,255 years.

Federal jurors convicted Rubashkin last week of all but five of the 91 business fraud charges listed in a 163-count indictment. But supporters of Rubashkin, the former vice president at Agriprocessors, Inc. in Postville, continued to maintain that he had done nothing illegal.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan Jr., one of three federal prosecutors who argued the case, wrote in court papers that any further convictions “would be entirely eclipsed by (Rubashkin’s) recommended guideline sentence on the counts for which he has already been convicted.”

Deegan said Rubashkin has already been convicted of the most serious charges listed in the indictment. Dismissing the charges also will avoid an extended and costly trial and lessen the inconvenience to possible witnesses, he said.

This is not to minimize the importance of those counts, but at least of the purpose of the advisory sentencing guideline range, any convictions on (the immigration counts) would have no impact on the defendant’s sentence,” Deegan wrote.

Deegan also said the jury’s verdicts on several of the fraud and false statement counts were premised, at least in part, upon Rubashkin knowingly making false statements to the bank with regard to the harboring of undocumented aliens at Agriprocessors Inc.

He also said the jury found that Rubashkin committed his crimes by falsely stating Agriprocessors was in compliance with all laws when Agriprocessors and its employees were harboring or conspiring to harbor undocumented aliens.

Rubashkin lawyer Guy Cook said today he viewed the dismissal of the immigration charges as a victory for his client.

“Frankly, the government should have done this a long time ago. In spite of the way the government characterizes things in its motion, we believe it overstates the verdict on the financial case in South Dakota. Rubaskin has steadfastly denied the immigration charges. He has pled not guilty. In spite of the raid of May 12, he continues to assert he committed no crimes,” Cook said.

Bob Teig, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said he could not comment.

Rubashkin is being held in the Linn County Correctional Center in Cedar Rapids. He is awaiting a ruling by Judge Linda Reade on a request by his lawyers that he be released on bail while he is awaiting sentencing.

Cook said he plans to file a motion this week for a new trial, based on what the defense believes are legal errors in the prosecution and trial of the case. If the new trial motion is not granted, an appeal will be filed, he said.

Monday, November 16, 2009

If this happened to anyone else, wouldn't they just take it back to the store for a refund? This woman decides to have a family conference to make sure it's a swastika and then calls the local tv station. They deem it newsworthy. It's November 9th when this story first breaks, and she's already got a Christmas tree in her living room.

Casey Lehman thought she was getting a bargain when she bought the roll of paper at a $1 store, but instead found herself about to wrap a present with a symbol most closely associated with Nazi Germany.

"I pulled it down from the closet, and for the first time saw it and thought, 'Oh wow. That's really inappropriate'," Lehman told Orlando TV station WESH. She added, "If I had sent this out on my Christmas gifts and someone had pointed it out to me I would have been mortified. I would have been really embarrassed."

The swastika symbol has been around for a long time, and hasn't always had a bad reputation. Swastikas appear on pottery and coins as early as 3,000 years ago, in cultures as diverse as China, Germany and Greece, and it remains a sacred Hindu symbol. However, since it was adopted by Adolph Hitler during World War II, you could say it's fallen out of favor as a design element in Western culture.

The pattern on this wrapping paper, in fact, is most likely an ancient Sanskrit symbol for good luck rather than an actual swastika (a dot included in each quadrant distinguishes it from the Nazi swastika). Either way, Lehman won't be using the paper to wrap any gifts this year. She and her mother and fiancé all agree that the swastika design isn't the kind of Christmas spirit they were looking for.

The manager of Dollar Mania, where Mrs. Lehman bought the paper, denied any knowledge of the design before she brought it to his attention -- but he's definitely making sure he doesn't sell any more of the potentially-upsetting wrapping paper.

A former Iranian defense official who disappeared in 2006 was kidnapped by forces collaborating with the Mossad and is currently being held in an Israeli prison, an investigative news website in Iran claimed on Sunday in a report picked up by Army Radio.

Ali-Reza Asgari, a onetime commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, went missing in Turkey in 2006.

Iranian officials and Asgari's family have claimed that he was abducted.

On Sunday, the Iranian website Alef reported that German, British and Israeli intelligence agencies were responsible for Asgari's disappearance.

"On the basis of a two-year investigation carried out by concerned bodies, Asgari was abducted by foreign intelligence services and is being held in a Zionist prison," the site reported, apparently referring to an Iranian intelligence probe into the matter.

The report claims that Asgari was kidnapped in an effort to get information about Iran's nuclear program and about missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad. Full Story

"He is a student, a studious person," the woman said. "He was in the hospital with his wife. She had an appointment. Something is very wrong if someone could be arrested at a hospital. This is a stupid, stupid mistake."

Kramer, a Hasidic Jew from Spring Valley, Rockland County, was arrested about 9 p.m. and taken out of the hospital in handcuffs for processing at the 33rd Precinct stationhouse in Washington Heights.
Charges were pending Wednesday night.

Though the alleged assault was discovered about noon, hospital staff waited more than three hours to notify police, hospital security sources said.

"The allegations are disgusting, preying on an elderly person, a sick patient who couldn't fight back," a police source said.

The cloth Kramer allegedly used to clean up the evidence was seized by the NYPD for testing, sources said.
"He didn't know the victim - it looks like he just wandered into a room and took advantage," another police source said.

Kramer's father and relatives declined to comment as they waited at the stationhouse.

Neighbors on quiet Morton Street, home to Kramer's father, Jeremias, were tight-lipped about the family's whereabouts. But the news of the outrageous crime was the talk of the insular community Thursday afternoon.

Religious leaders defended Kramer, calling him a brainiac with a passion for writing about God.

"He is an author of religious books," said Rabbi Leib Glanz, executive vice president of United Jewish Care in Williamsburg. "He is a Torah scholar."

"His wife is expecting a baby. That is why he was in the hospital," said Glanz.

Kramer's lawyer said his client took his pregnant wife to the hospital for a routine check-up Wednesday.
He left his spouse to head to the hospitality room intended for Jewish patients and their guests, and picked up a book.

But the cries of the old man stopped Kramer, his lawyer said.

The senior "lifted his gown to indicate where he was in pain," Fried said in court.

After checking on the man, Kramer returned to his wife, Fried said.

A nurse later caught Kramer in the old man's room, during Kamer's second visit, and alerted authorities.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Gaza – Ma’an – The European medical aid convoy “Miles of Smiles” arrived in Gaza late night Wednesday night after spending 25 days waiting on the Egyptian side of the crossing.

Hamdi Sha’th, head of the committee against the siege, told Ma’an over the phone that the convoy will stay in Gaza only 48 hours and will leave on Friday after the noon prayer. The short trip was part of the terms negotiated by Egyptian border officials.

Initial conditions were set at a 24-hour visit, but negotiations with convoy leaders saw the timeframe extended by a day.

The group brings into the Strip 100 small trucks loaded with medical aid and nearly 260 wheelchairs in addition to a number of ambulances, 102 cars for transportation of the disabled and computers for schools damaged during the last war.

Sha’th said the convoy consisted of 60 individuals from 10 different European countries, who would travel to the northern Strip where they would meet with members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, then head to the Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which bore the brunt of casualties from Israel's last war on the area in December and January. Later in the day the delegation will meet families of prisoners being held in Israel, and finally a meeting with de facto government officials.

Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in the de facto government Ahmad Al-Kurd said in a news conference after the convoy arrived in Gaza that it was carrying a moral message to the world, demanding they “stop besieging one and a half million Palestinians," and will carry the "devastating humanitarian impact” of the siege back to their countries and spread the word.

Convoy coordinator Dr Issam Younis said “we’ve come to draw a smile on the faces of Gaza’s children and on the faces of every child and youth who has been assaulted, to tell them that there is life is ahead of you and your goal is unique and we are with you.”

The US is to seize four mosques from a charity foundation suspectedof having ties with Iran, including this one in Houston, Texas.

US federal prosecutors have taken legal action to seize four mosques from a charity foundation, saying they are suspected of having ties with the Tehran government.

The prosecutors are also planning to seize the non-profit group's 36-story building on Fifth Avenue in New York.

The seizure of the places of worship is seen as a blow to the very first amendment to the United States Constitution in which freedom of worship is enshrined and guaranteed as an inalienable right of all its citizens.

On Thursday, the US President, Barack Obama, renewed Washington's economic sanctions against Iran for another year despite talks of trying to seek a 'new beginning' with the Islamic Republic.

"Our relations with Iran have not yet returned to normal," the US President said.

The US sanctions are engineered to mount pressure on Iran in an attempt to halt its nuclear program.

Tehran has repeatedly declared that it will not give up the Iranian nation's legitimate nuclear rights under Western pressure.

Iran has been under US sanction since the 1979 Islamic Revolution toppled the country's US-backed monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The jury found him not guilty of five counts of violating a law requiring payment of livestock providers within 24 hours.

Rubashkin's attorney, Guy Cook, said they will appeal the decision.

Rubashkin, 50, was immediately taken into custody. As he was led out of the courtroom, he blew a kiss to his family and well-wishers.

A decision will be made Nov. 18 on whether Rubashkin can post bail. A sentencing date was not set.

Rubashkin had been offered a plea deal by federal prosecutors prior to the start of the trial, but told supporters that he would not accept because he was innocent, a close family friend told The Des Moines Register today.

The Rabbi Shea Hecht, chairman of the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education, said Rubashkin's supporters urged him to take the offer, which would have included prison time.

But the Rubashkin meat plant in Postville, had "moral problems" with the proposal and insisted that he had done nothing illegal, Hecht said.

The plea-deal conversation took place during a meeting with Rubashkin and his lawyers in Crown Heights, a Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood and Rubashkin family stronghold, Hecht said. Hecht said it happened shortly before Yom Kippur, a major Jewish holiday, which this year began at sunset on Sept. 27.

Hecht said Rubashkin's legal expenses - paid by a Brooklyn-based defense committee, of which he is a member - have already exceeded $1 million.

Cook declined to comment about the plea-deal.

Prosecutors alleged during the trial that Rubashkin falsified sales records to defraud the plant's St. Louis-based lender. The fake invoices and shipping papers created the illusion of sales that had never happened, and allowed Rubashkin to borrow more out of a $35 million credit line.

Rubashkin also allegedly diverted customer payments into the wrong bank account, when the money should have gone directly to lender. Prosecution witnesses testified that Rubashkin used the money for personal expenses and to keep the plant running.

The five-man, seven-woman jury began deliberations on the case Monday afternoon after a nearly month-long trial with more than 60 witnesses and reams of financial documents. They continued deliberations on Tuesday, had Wednesday off in observance of Veterans Day, returning on Thursday. The jury returned to the courtroom at about 4:40 p.m. Thursday.

Rubashkin still faces 72 immigration-related federal charges as well as state allegations that he violated child labor laws. The federal immigration trial is set to begin in December in Sioux Falls.

Agriprocessors Inc. was the site of a May 2008 immigration raid that led to the arrest of 389 immigrant workers. Rubashkin was first charged in late October 2008, but insisted that he was innocent.

An Israeli Rabbi living in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank has caused a firestorm in both Israeli and Palestinian media with a new book outlining a series of Jewish theological arguments for killing those who threaten Israel or demand Israeli land.

The 230-page book, "The King's Torah" was released over the weekend by Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira and gives theological backing to Jews killing those perceived to be violating Jewish commandments or threatening the Jewish nation. A theological treatise based on Rabbi Shapira's interpretation of passages from the Jewish bible, "The King's Torah" is an extensive guide to when it is permissible for Jews to kill non-Jews.

Rabbi Shapiro's book argues that Jewish law allows the killing of "non-Jews who demand the land for themselves", those from a nation which "helps a murderer of Jews," those spreading "hostile blasphemy" and "those who, by speech, weaken our sovereignty."

"Any case in which the life of the civilian endangers Israel," the book states, "it is allowed to kill a gentile."

"The permit also applies when the persecutor is threatening to kill indirectly rather than directly," Rabbi Shapiro's book reads. "If the civilian is aiding fighters it is permissible to kill... Any citizen who supports the war or the fighters or expresses satisfaction with their deeds - the killing is permitted."

Rabbi Shapira's book argues that revenge is a necessity under Jewish law.

"To defeat the wicked one should be vengeful, tit for tat," the book reads. "Revenge is a necessity... and sometimes doing savage things intended to create a true balance of terror."

The book further states that Jews are permitted to kill children "If it is clear they will grow up to harm us."

"If hurting an evil leader's children will pressure him to stop acting maliciously," Rabbi Shapira wrote, "you can hurt them."

The book discusses the laws regarding such killings in theological terms, never specifically mentioning Palestinians, Arabs or Israeli soldiers sent to remove Jewish settlements. Its release comes weeks after the arrest of Yaakov Teitel, a Jewish Israeli settler of American origin who is understood to have admitted to killing Palestinians and attacking progressive and messianic Jews.

Rabbi Shapira is head of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva, a religious school for Jewish boys based in the Yitzhar Jewish settlement a few miles southwest of the Palestinian city of Nablus. Rabbi Shapira's followers adhere to a radical form of Jewish religious nationalism and call for a Torah-based theocracy to replace the State of Israel, which they see as having abandoned core Jewish principals.

The school is best known for its former leader, American-born Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg, seen as the spiritual heir to the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, the American-Israeli founder of the extreme-right political party Kach, classified by both Israel and the U.S. as a terrorist organization. Rabbi Ginzburg was imprisoned for an article praising Baruch Goldstein, an American-born Israeli physician who killed dozens of Muslim worshipers in Hebron and injured 150 others in 1994.

Both Rabbi Ginzburg and Rabbi Ya'akov Yosef, another prominent leader of the radical Jewish religious nationalist movement, have recommended Rabbi Shapira's new book, which was first released over the weekend at a Jerusalem memorial for Rabbi Kahane.

Rabbi Hank Skirball, the chairperson of Hiddush, an Israeli organization dedicated to religious freedom and equality, said Rabbi Shapira's book represented only the far right fringe of religious Jews.

"It's a perversion of Jewish law and I don't think it's taken seriously by most," he told The Media Line. "It's giving people tremendous latitude to kill people they disagree with and opens itself up to violation of much more important prohibitions in Jewish law."

"In Israel we did not kill the murderer of Prime Minister Yitshak Rabin and we didn't kill any of the people who created sedition at the time," he said. "We have freedom of speech and its very difficult to know what is dangerous and what is not. Jewish law does not provide for us to go out and kill someone for what he's saying. You are only allowed to kill someone if it is very obvious that he's about to kill you and you have no other way to save your life other than by killing him."Rabbi David Hartman, founder of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and a philosopher of contemporary Judaism, said that the rabbis of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva were not taking into account the consequences of their teachings.

"Has the Jewish tradition ever created a distinction based on race, gender, etc? Of course, there is no doubt that there are serious Jewish sources that do not look at the non-Jew with full equality," he told The Media Line. "But they have lots of sources they could use, and which sources you choose to read and don't read is important."

"One of the interesting things about Jewish law is that perception is a part of the criteria," Rabbi Hartman said. "Jewish theologians aren't pure academics nor are they spokesmen, so they are not writing in a vacuum. The most serious Jewish theological figures are very careful about the implications or consequences of their writings."

Rabbi Hartman argued that while such books touched a cultural chord, they were mostly ignored in the mainstream Jewish theological community.

"I make a distinction between a cultural fringe and what is fringe in terms of Jewish theological thought," he told The Media Line. "On the one hand, this is not fringe, and you have mainstream kids talking this talk. But in terms of Jewish law, there is no significant Jewish theological movement to permit the blood of non-Jews. If you're looking at the major thinkers, nobody is talking with that language, whether they are ultra-orthodox, Sephardic or Ashkenazi, and these kinds of things are ignored."

"The problem is that if you ignore something it doesn't mean it doesn't have any influence over students," Rabbi Hartman said. "Beware of that which you ignore, what is a cultural phenomenon today may become acceptable to major Jewish thinkers tomorrow."

"For example, when it comes to Israel, our return to power and the desire to strengthen the claim to the land has created a push for a new Jewish theological creativity and a cultural phenomenon in which certain Jewish theological positions are given more significance than what the major Jewish theological authorities would allow."

"Forty years ago there were no major Jewish theological figures who said the land of Israel was more significant than Pikuach Nefesh, the concept of the saving of a life," he said, in reference to Jewish theological debates over exchanging land captured by Israel for peace. "Today in the religious Zionist community there are major theological figures for whom this is now a self evident truth."

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Rep. Dennis Kucinich canceled his keynote speech at a Democratic Party fund-raising dinner after several elected officials protested his stance on Israel.

Kucinich (D-Ohio),who e-mailed the Palm Beach County, Fla., chairman on Nov. 6 to bow out of giving his talk next week, has a history of criticizing Israel .He has voted against multiple resolutions supporting the state and opposed sanctions against Iran’s anti-Israel regime.

Kucinich, a perpetual dark-horse Democratic presidential candidate, said in the e-mail that he did not want his speech or appearance to hamper Democratic fund-raising efforts, according to the Palm Beach Post.

He defended his past positions on Israel, writing that he “has always defended Israel’s right to survive and its right to defend itself.” Kucinich said critics have “falsely characterized” his criticism as anti-Israel sentiment.

Florida state Rep. Kevin Rader (D-Delray Beach) had threatened last week to boycott the dinner if Kucinich spoke. Florida state Sen. Ted Deutch (D-Boca Raton) and state Rep. Maria Sachs (D-Delray) voiced disapproval of the pick, along with Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson. Link Here

Monday, November 09, 2009

Israel drastically fails to meet all requirements of a tolerant pluralistic society, according to a US State Department report issued on Saturday.

The report, written by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, indicates that Israel is discriminating against Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christians, women, Bedouins, and even Reform Jews, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday.

Israel does not treat ethnic groups on equal terms and also does not show any respect toward certain holy sites and other historic sites, the document added.

It went on to say that although a 1967 Israeli law calls for the protection of all holy sites in Jerusalem Al-Quds, the Israeli government does not show due respect toward non-Jewish sites and does not even officially recognize non-Jewish sites as holy places.

In addition, as Israel is neglecting several Muslim and Christian holy sites, they are subject to exploitation by Israeli authorities and real estate entrepreneurs, the report noted.

On Wednesday, 28 October 2009, we learned that Ms. Berlanty Azzam, a Bethlehem University student studying business administration and translation, was arrested by the Israeli military.

On Thursday, 29 October 2009, we spoke with Berlanty via mobile phone and learned that on Wednesday night at 11:00pm the Israeli military loaded her into a military jeep - blindfolded and handcuffed - and moved her from Bethlehem to Gaza - against her will.

Since August 2005, Berlanty, a 21 year old Christian woman, has been a student at Bethlehem University. "Since 2005, I refrained from visiting my family in Gaza for fear that I would not be permitted to return to my studies in the West Bank," said Berlanty. "Now, just two months before graduation, I was arrested and taken to Gaza in the middle of the night, with no way to finish my degree." Berlantyis scheduled to complete her bachelor degree in December 2009.

Why was she removed from Bethlehem (in the West Bank and not in Israel) and taken to Gaza? Just because her address in the Israeli-controlled Population Registry is listed in the Gaza Strip- but she lives in Bethlehem and has done so since the year 2005.

We need your help. Berlanty needs your help. What can you do to help?

RIGHT NOW, please send an email to:

Ø The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Avigdor Liberman): sar@mfa.gov.ilThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Ø The Israeli Minister of Religious Affairs (Mr. Yaakov Margi): yakovm@dat.gov.ilThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Ø Your elected representatives in your home country.
Let them know that you demand that the Israeli military immediately return Berlanty Azzam to Bethlehem so that she can resume and complete her last few weeks of studies to complete her bachelors degree at the Vatican-sponsored Bethlehem University.
Visit our website (www.bethlehem.edu) and Gisha (www.gisha.org) for more updates.

Just weeks after the arrest of alleged Jewish terrorist, Yaakov Teitel, a West Bank rabbi on Monday released a book giving Jews permission to kill Gentiles who threaten Israel.

Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the Yitzhar settlement, wrote in his book "The King's Torah" that even babies and children can be killed if they pose a threat to the nation.

Shapiro based the majority of his teachings on passages quoted from the Bible, to which he adds his opinions and beliefs.

"It is permissable to kill the Righteous among Nations even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation," he wrote, adding: "If we kill a Gentile who has sinned or has violated one of the seven commandments - because we care about the commandments - there is nothing wrong with the murder."

Several prominent rabbis, including Rabbi Yithak Ginzburg and Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, have recommended the book to their students and followers.

Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs (GS), has put an unusual spin on the bank's activities. He says his firm is doing "God's work." This may seem like an audacious statement coming from a man whose company has been harshly criticized for planning to give many of its employees multi-million pay packages just a bit more than a year after the collapse of the credit markets.

Blankfein told The Times of London, "We help companies to grow by helping them to raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth. We have a social purpose." That is, of course, a social purpose that comes at a very steep price; it charges huge fees for raising money and handling M&A transactions, even if they eventually fail.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

American Passport Holders Found With Illegal Arms, Photgraphing Sensitive Buildings

Note - Holders of American passports can also be dual citizens of, for example, Israel.

ISLAMABAD – Four American citizens were caught red-handed by Capital Police in the early hours of Tuesday for photographing sensitive buildings. All four were dressed in traditional Afghan outfits and were found to be in possession of illegal weapons and explosives.

According to details, police personnel deployed here at Nawaz Chowk, sector F-8, intercepted two suspicious vehicles in the early hours of Tuesday. During the search, police recovered weapons from their custody. The riders of these vehicles were found to be American citizens. They were all dressed as Afghans.

The number plates on both vehicles (IDM 2030 & LG 501) were found to be fake. The police personnel called for backup when the Americans refused to allow them to search the car. High Ranking Capital Police officials reached the site within minutes and had the vehicles searched, recovering 2 M-16A1 rifles, 2 handguns and 2 hand-grenades.

The police held the American citizens in custody for an hour before the Interior Ministry interefered and had them released without charge even as preliminary investigation was being carried out.